Perfect tuneup: Lex ready for sectionals, cruises to 4th straight OCC tennis title
MOUNT VERNON – His blond locks flowing under a retro white headband, Lexington sophomore Karl Etzel used this spring to perfect that Seventies look of Swedish tennis icon Bjorn Borg. (Google him, kids.)
He’s even broken out the double wristbands, a la Borg, on occasion.
If it was Etzel’s intention to fairly mimic the Iceborg’s surgical precision with Thursday’s performance, well, he nailed that, too, winning No. 3 singles without losing a game in his two tournament matches as Lex won its fourth straight Ohio Cardinal Conference championship at Mount Vernon Nazarene.
Etzel was the only Lex player to walk away completely unscathed, but the Minutemen surrendered only eight games in 10 matches in sweeping all five courts on the heels of a perfect 6-0 dual season in OCC play.
When you look good, you play good, right, Karl?
“The Wooster coach actually told me I looked like Borg,” Etzel said after adding this title to the one he won at No. 2 singles last year. “I got (the headband) at Walmart for a dodgeball tournament at my church and now I’ve been wearing it for matches. At first I did it as a joke, but now I think it looks sick.”
As in great, amazing, awesome, all good adjectives to describe this OCC title run Lex has been on since 2018, interrupted only by the canceled-by-COVID 2020 season.
Tommy Secrist blew a hole in his shoe – it even went through his sock – but repeated as OCC Player of the Year, claiming his second straight title at No. 1 singles by beating Wooster’s Mark Wood 6-2, 6-1. The Lex senior also won an OCC title at No. 3 singles as a freshman.
“It’s a nice send-off,” he said as graduation fast approaches, “especially since I lost my sophomore year (to the pandemic).”
After falling one win short in singles of making it to the OHSAA individual state tournament last season, Secrist will play postseason doubles for the first time, pairing up with Etzel.
They are seeded No. 1 in next week’s Shelby sectional, with senior teammates Ryan Mecurio and Ross Drlik – last year’s district champs and fourth-place finishers at state – seeded No. 2.
“I’m so tired of playing singles; I’m just burnt out,” Secrist said. “It’s not easy to take it on the chin at (number) one against (Division I) schools all the time.”
In their limited time as a tandem, Secrist and Etzel have beaten a team from state-ranked Columbus Bexley and a Columbus Academy duo that is seeded No. 1 at its sectional. That latter win came at the recent Lexington Invitational.
“Our styles complement each other, I guess,” Etzel said. “This year, I’ve been pretty good at the net. That’s something I really had to work on last year, getting better with volleys. That’s been working really well this year.
“Tommy’s really good from the baseline and then working his way in.”
Etzel made it to state in doubles last year with fellow soph Ethan Remy, reaching the quarterfinals for second team All-Ohio honors. Remy, who won No. 2 singles Thursday after winning No. 3 last year, is seeded No. 1 in singles for next week’s sectionals, with usual doubles partners Jake Chilcote and Dylan Catanese, seeded 2 and 3, respectively, in singles.
“Ethan and I have played together forever, in doubles tournaments and stuff. He’s consistent and Tommy likes to hit the ball hard,” Etzel said of trying to earn All-Ohio in doubles for a second time, with a new partner. “Ethan is really ‘chill’ in matches and Tommy likes to really get into matches.”
Etzel admitted to taking on their personalities, depending on which is his partner.
“When I play with Tommy I get hyped up,” he said, “and when I play with Ethan I’m more chill ... just win the point and go on to the next one.”
Last year’s path to first time All-Ohio honors was a wild one for Mecurio and Drlik. They lost to Remy and Etzel in the sectional finals, but turned around the next week to avenge that loss in the district finals en route to making it to the second day of the state tournament.
Mecurio and Drlik tuned up for this postseason by winning a second straight OCC title at No. 1 doubles. It was the third league title overall at that spot for Mecurio, who won with Brent Webster as a freshman.
He knows Secrist and Etzel will present the ultimate challenge.
“They’re both really hard hitters,” Mecurio said, “and I think they’ll bring more intensity than when it was Karl and Ethan.
“You want to get the No. 1 seed. Going into districts doesn’t matter as much, but going to state it really matters being the No. 1 seed. Of course we want to win both (sectionals and districts), but when it comes down to it, we want to qualify for each round.”
Catanese and Owan Gongwer are the two freshmen making an impact for a state-ranked Lex team with eight very good players to fill just seven spots.
For most of the season, Catanese has been paired with Chilcote, a junior, at No. 2 doubles, but with Gongwer the odd-man out at sectionals, coach Ron Schaub gave him the opportunity to play No. 2 doubles Thursday.
Gongwer and Chilcote only lost one game in their two matches, beating Wooster’s Jared Pennell and John Sibilia 6-1, 6-0 in the finals.
How deep is this Lex roster? Gongwer would play No. 1 singles for any other team in the league.
“It was nice to play OCCs,” he said. “This was my first season, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I played against some of these teams during the season, so I knew how they played.
“Next year I’ll have more chances. We’ll lose three of our really good players (Secrist, Mecurio, Drlik), but eventually we’ll gain some new ones. Playing with this team just makes you better and better, especially playing the seniors and juniors. They’ve played more and most of them are better than you, so it just makes you better.”
Gongwer knows he needs to stay on his toes because his name could be called at any time.
“Ron makes lineups at the last second, so you’ve always got to be ready,” he said. “We try to play a lot of real matches (in practices) to get us prepared for wherever we may be placed. We each play a lot of singles and doubles just because our lineup mixes up every single match.”
With duals and the tournament part of the equation, Lex finished atop the OCC with 59 points. Wooster was runner-up (43), followed by Ashland (23), West Holmes (22), Mount Vernon (13.5), Mansfield Senior (10) and Madison (2).
Lex and Wooster met in the tourney finals on four of the five courts, the exception being at No. 3 singles, where Etzel beat Brody Schaad of West Holmes 6-0, 6-0.
Good showing by Tygers exchange students
Ashland‘s No. 1 doubles team of Seth Karnosh and Caedon Blough and No. 2 duo of Landon Davis and Drew Friesen both finished third, while Mansfield Senior exchange students Diego Tolivia and Paul Demellier finished fourth at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively.
Consolation finals were all first to eight games by two, with Tolivia falling 8-3 to West Holmes’ Hunter Ellis and Demellier by the same score to Ashland’s Ben Sinchock.
“I went looking for them,” Tygers coach Terra Beard said of her top two players. “I heard they played tennis, but they didn’t come out for the team at the beginning.”
They were both running track already when Beard convinced them to play tennis at the same time. They both run distance races and mostly train with the track team, showing up for tennis when there’s a match.
Demellier, from France, hadn’t played tennis for two years when he arrived here and Tolivia, from Switzerland, was coming off a year layoff.
“I guess it’s like riding a bike,” said Beard, laughing.
Tolivia’s mom is Swiss and his dad is Spanish, so he keeps both parents happy by being fans of tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“I just like how they play,” he said. “They’re good and nice on the court.”
Tolivia said his background in tennis made it easy for him to pick the game back up after taking a long break.
“I played four hours a week for three years and before that I played an hour a week for five years,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to play tennis here because I thought about track. And now I’m actually doing both.
“I hoped I could finish third because the player I played (Ellis) I beat in the (dual) meet. But that’s the way it is.”
Demelllier’s first love is rugby. He’s on a very good club team in France.
“We play a lot of tournaments,” he said. “I did rugby and tennis. It was too much for me. I stopped tennis and focused on rugby. I’m better in rugby now.
“My level (of tennis ability) was not very good when I came here, so I practiced and practiced. It’s better now.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lex sweeps OCC tournament to prep for postseason run
